By virtue of and pursuant to the authority vested in me by section 4 of the Air Commerce Act of 1926 (44 Stat. 568, 570), the airspace above the following-described portion of the District of Columbia is hereby reserved and set apart for national defense and other governmental purposes, and for public safety purposes, as an airspace reservation within which no person shall navigate a civil aircraft except by special permission of the Civil Aeronautics Authority: All that area within the City of Washington, D.C., lying within the following described boundary: Beginning at the southwest corner of the Lincoln Memorial Monument (Lat. 38°53'21'' N.; Long. 77°03'02'' W.); thence a distance of approximately 0.6 of a mile on a true bearing of approximately 329° to the intersection of the centerlines of New Hampshire Avenue Northwest, and Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway (Lat. 38°53'46" N.; Long. 77°03'23'' W.) (identifiable by the Titanic Monument situated on the south side of such Parkway adjacent to the bank of the Potomac River); thence along the centerline of New Hampshire Avenue a distance of approximately 1.2 miles on a true bearing of approximately 36° to the center of Dupont Circle (Lat. 38°54'35"' N.; Long. 77°02'37'' W.) (identifiable as the conjunction of New Hampshire Avenue, Massachusetts Avenue, Connecticut Avenue and P Street Northwest, with such Circle); thence along the centerline of P Street Northwest a distance of approximately 0.7 of a mile on a true bearing of 90° to the center of Logan Circle (Lat. 38°54'35'' N.; Long. 77°01'47'' W.) (identifiable as the conjunction of Rhode Island Avenue, Vermont Avenue and 13th and P Streets Northwest, with such Circle); thence a distance of approximately 1.5 miles on a true bearing of approximately 110° to the intersection of the centerlines of K and 2nd Streets Northeast (Lat. 38°54'10'' N.; Long. 77°00'13'' W.) (identifiable as a point adjacent to the east end of the railroad viaduct over K Street Northeast) ; thence a distance of approximately 0.7 of a mile on a true bearing of approximately 160° to the center of Stanton Square (Lat. 38°53'36" N.; Long. 77°00'00'' W.) (identifiable as the conjunction of Massachusetts Avenue, Maryland Avenue and 4th, 5th and 6th Streets Northeast, with such Square); thence a distance of approximately 0.5 of a mile or a true bearing of 180° to the center of Seward Square (Lat. 38°53'10'' N.; Long. 77°00'00'' W.) (identifiable as the conjunction of Pennsylvania Avenue, North Carolina Avenue and 4th, 5th and 6th Streets Southeast, with such Square); thence a distance of approximately 0.4 of of a mile on a true bearing of approximately 242° to the intersection of the centerlines of New Jersey Avenue, North Carolina Avenue and E Street Southeast (Lat. 38°53'00'' N.; Long. 77°00'24'' W.) (identifiable as a point adjacent to the smokestack of the Capitol power house); thence a distance of approximately 1.4 miles on a true bearing of approximately 268° to the center of the railroad bridge over the channel of water connecting the Tidal Basin and the Washington Channel (Lat. 38°52'58" N.; Long. 77°01'57'' W.); thence a distance of approximately 1.1 miles on a true bearing of approximately 295° to the point of beginning. Any person navigating an aircraft within this airspace reservation in violation of the provisions of this Order will be subject to the penalties prescribed in the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938 (52 Stat. 973). This Order supersedes Executive Order No. 7910 of June 16, 1938, establishing an airspace reservation over a portion of the District of Columbia. FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT The White House, March 18, 1940.
Executive Order 8378—Establishing an Airspace Reservation Over a Portion of the District of Columbia
Executive Brief • At a Glance
The airspace above the following-described portion of the District of Columbia is hereby reserved and set apart for national defense and other governmental purposes, and for public safety purposes, as an airspace reservation within which no person shall navigate a civil aircraft except by special permission of the Civil Aeronautics Authority: All that area within the City of Washington, D.C., lying within the following described boundary: Beginning at the southwest corner of the Lincoln Memorial Monument (Lat. 38°53'21'' N.; Long. 77°03'02'' W.); thence a distance of approximately 0.6 of a mile on a true bearing of approximately 329° to the intersection of the centerlines of New Hampshire Avenue Northwest, and Rock Creek and Potomac…
Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis
Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.
Signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on March 18, 1940, this order concerns Establishing an Airspace Reservation Over a Portion of the District of Columbia. The airspace above the following-described portion of the District of Columbia is hereby reserved and set apart for national defense and other governmental purposes, and for public safety purposes, as an airspace reservation within which no person shall navigate a civil aircraft except by special permission of the Civil Aeronautics Authority: All that area within the City of Washington, D.C., lying within the…
Key Directives & Operative Actions
The airspace above the following-described portion of the District of Columbia is hereby reserved and set apart for national defense and other governmental purposes, and for public safety purposes, as an airspace reservation within which no person shall navigate a civil aircraft except by special permission of the Civil Aeronautics Authority: All that area within the City of Washington, D.C., lying within the following described boundary: Beginning at the southwest corner of the Lincoln Memorial Monument (Lat. 38°53'21'' N.; Long. 77°03'02'' W.); thence a distance of approximately 0.6 of a mile on a true bearing of approximately 329° to the intersection of the centerlines of New Hampshire Avenue Northwest, and Rock Creek and Potomac…
Any person navigating an aircraft within this airspace reservation in violation of the provisions of this Order will be subject to the penalties prescribed in the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938 (52 Stat. 973).
This Order supersedes Executive Order No. 7910 of June 16, 1938, establishing an airspace reservation over a portion of the District of Columbia.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
Policy Areas & Topics
The Framers' Constitutional Council
1787 PrismEvaluating this order against the constitutional debates of 1787 and the limits of Article II executive power.
"When the President acts in absence of either a congressional grant or denial of authority, he can only rely upon his own independent powers, but there is a zone of twilight in which he and Congress may have concurrent authority."
James Madison
Separation of Powers & Legislative Primacy
"Power is of an encroaching nature, and it ought to be effectually restrained from passing the limits assigned to it." — Federalist No. 48 (1788)
Madison would view this order with watchful scrutiny. Operating in the 'Zone of Twilight' where Congress is silent, each such directive establishes an administrative precedent that steadily expands the executive perimeter at the expense of legislative primacy.
Alexander Hamilton
The Energetic Executive & Unified Command
"The direction of war implies the direction of the common strength; and the power of directing and employing the common strength must be under the direction of the single hand of the Executive." — Federalist No. 74 (1788)
Hamilton would forcefully champion executive discretion here. For foreign entanglements, commerce defense, and national security, deliberative assemblies are too slow and faction-ridden. A unified, energetic Executive exercising swift command is precisely what the Philadelphia Convention intended for national preservation.
George Mason
Bill of Rights, Due Process & 10th Amendment
"The president will be surrounded by flatterers and sycophants... and the great powers of the executive will gradually absorb the liberties of the people." — Cato IV (Anti-Federalist, 1787)
The Anti-Federalist prism advises continuous democratic vigilance. Even routine administrative directives aggregate centralized federal power away from town halls and state assemblies toward a distant executive apparatus.
Five Measurable "Constitutional Friction" Dimensions
An objective audit measuring potential separation-of-powers tension against the United States Constitution and established Supreme Court doctrine.
Legislative Encroachment & Purse
Administers commerce or fiscal programs requiring ongoing statutory delegation and legislative oversight.
Executive Scope & Faithfulness
Exercises standard supervisory executive authority to faithfully execute existing statutes.
Federalism & State Sovereignty
Confined strictly to internal federal jurisdiction, federal property, or direct military command.
Due Process & Individual Rights
Focuses on internal governmental operations with no direct impairment of private rights or property.
Youngstown Jacksonian Tier
The order relies on inherent Article II executive discretion, civil service management, or foreign diplomacy where Congress has neither expressly approved nor prohibited action.
This order operates within Justice Jackson’s Zone of Twilight, resting upon concurrent presidential authority or congressional silence.
Referenced By Later Executive Orders (1)
Subsequent presidents who cited, amended, continued, or revoked this directive in later orders.
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 8378 (Mar. 18, 1940), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-8378-establishing-airspace-reservation-over-portion-the-district-columbia.